


Incubus Travels

by Regency



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Possibly OOC, old fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 09:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3129704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regency/pseuds/Regency
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Will was resuscitated in Kali, Pt. 3, a creature similar to that which inhabited John Druitt entered him.  It has been a slow descent towards madness ever since with Magnus at its heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

                It takes her a while to realize that he doesn’t touch her anymore.  He doesn’t gently guide her by her arm or brush his fingers across her lower back.  He doesn’t touch her now.

                She can acknowledge that she’s been losing him since the first breath of his resurrection.  Something familiar, something that she knew fundamentally had not returned with him to his second chance at life.

                But something else had.

…

                She noticed he was gone almost immediately.  It was not a sense she could have explained had anyone known to ask, but she felt it keenly.  Something was…wrong, to say the least.  A cursory inspection of SHU, where she’d been working for several hours, revealed nothing amiss, yet the feeling persisted to the point of aching where her muscles tensed.

                She couldn’t work like this.

                Putting aside tasks that no longer seemed so vital, she left SHU to investigate.  _No alarms_ , she noted, _and no message from Henry._   He would have contacted her had there been some emergency, assuming none of the others reached her first.  The lighted corridors assured her that the electricity was still functioning normally and the lack of chaos confirmed that there was no particular incursion afoot. Nevertheless, her unease endured, now heightened.

                She allowed her instincts to guide her feet and they took her to a place they rarely did: Will’s office.  The door appeared tightly shut upon her approach but swung open at a shift in the wind.  What she saw made her hesitate, made her reconsider and reach for her radio.

                It was as if he’d never been there.  Neither paintings on the walls nor books on the shelves were there to be seen.  His desk was bare, as was the floor of the fine area rug he’d brought along; an heirloom of his mother’s.  There was no Will left in this office; there was no one at all.

                Helen glanced back to check the nameplate on the door to confirm that she was, in fact, in the right place.  Although the slot that should have held his placard was empty as well—she was not worried yet, not afraid—she had no doubts about her location.  Will was simply not there.

                She tried to raise him on the radio and got only punishing audio feedback for her trouble: his radio was in the room, in his desk, she presumed.  She crossed over to the thing and began to search the drawers.  Any mores that might have made her hesitate were summarily ignored.  The answer to this sudden mystery had to be here, where he worked best.

                She found the crackling handheld and silenced it, with pleasure.  Then, she discovered an envelope, penned more carefully than Will tended, with her name.  She was suddenly no longer sure she wanted to know the truth of this office’s unexpected abandonment. At that point, it would become quite real and reality was rarely kind.

                _Surely, there’s a rational explanation for all this_ , she consoled herself, before deciding that perhaps a phone call was in order.  She extricated her mobile from her lab coat and dialed her young protégé without ever considering the fact that he’d been first on her speed dial since Ashley’s loss.  To her immense surprise, his familiar drawl answered on the second ring.

                “Hello.”  He didn’t ask who was calling; she imagined he’d expected to hear from her.

                “Will.”  She was at a loss for how to begin asking the questions that were clamoring for attention in her mind.  “Your office.  I don’t understand.”  She was used to being a great deal more articulate than this.

                “Didn’t read the letter, then?”  She could almost hear his lips angling into a sardonic smile.  If only she could have seen it in person, just to be certain that he was _here_ rather than anywhere else.  She was losing him over the open phone line, even as they spoke.

                “I don’t need to read a letter to recognize when I’ve been deserted.”

                The silence that resulted protracted interminably. All the while, Helen winced.  She hadn’t meant to sound quite to so defensive.  Whatever her insecurities, there’d been no need to bring them to light at this very moment.

                “If I had a choice,” he began, sounding for all the world as if he’d been craving the chance to explain, “I’d never leave.  I know how much it cost you to trust me and I want you know that I’ve always been grateful for the chance you gave me. You brought me into your world and it’s been wonderful—give or a take a few overly-friendly spiders.”  He laughed to himself while she couldn’t the humor in it.

                The tension returned; fist clinched until nails bit skin, spine taut, and eyes shut so very tight.  She wasn’t one for pretending, but she would pretend and wish with all her might.  _Please, don’t do this._

                She forced the words out anyway: “You’re leaving, then?”  No need to feign ignorance for a single moment more, regardless of how she craved it.

                He exhaled unhappily down the line.  It rattled her in its melancholy.  “Yeah, I am.”

                “Why?”  Such a simple question and his disbelieving huff fairly overflowed with a multitude of truths. 

                “Because I think that the man I’ve become is _not_ the man I would have been.”

                Helen blinked and frowned without comprehending.  “I don’t understand.”

                “And you shouldn’t. Just know that the whole Kali thing? Had a bigger impact on me than I thought.  I’m not fit to lead the Sanctuary anymore, Magnus, and I won’t ever be.”

                Sensing a torrent of undercurrents beneath his words, she was determined to tread carefully.  “Has something happened, Will?” No response.  “Have you done something?” Nothing.  “Something you’re ashamed of? Will, if something is the matter, if you feel you’ve fundamentally changed, then there is no better place for you than the Sanctuary.  You know that.”

                “It’s not safe.”

                “For you or for anyone else?”

                And there was that smile again, shining in his voice.  She could have touched it, the affection was so tangible.  “You’re an amazing woman. I don’t think I’ve ever said that to you.”

                Certain that this was the beginning of their final goodbye, she stalled, teasing him, “Perhaps not, but it’s never too late to start.”

                “Oh, it’s way too late, Helen.”  The sound of her name spoken just that way unnerved her.  The secrets he was conveying without translation made her ache.  This was because of her; somehow, she had driven him away.

                “You won’t stay gone forever, will you?”  She felt quite the silly girl for asking.

                “I’ll miss working beside you,” he said in lieu of an answer.  _Perhaps that was his answer._

                “I’ll miss your pathetic attempts to have me drink coffee.”

                “I still say you should try it. I bet you’d love it once you found the right blend.”

                Helen wrinkled her nose in distaste.  “No, thank you, I think I’ll stick to my tea leaves and sugar lumps. You know how I hate change.”  There was a quiet moment when she listened to him breathe and wondered where he was. “I’m never going to see you again and you aren’t even going to tell me why, are you?”

                “Because the day I decided to stay on at the Sanctuary, you became the most important person in my life.  That was a mistake.”  There was no taking the sting out of the words, whatever his intent to soothe.

                “We all make mistakes.”

                “And, sometimes, when we do, people die. I can’t live with that, Magnus.”

                “You’re afraid that your affection for me will endanger lives. Why?”  And if she was afraid of the same, this was hardly the moment to commiserate.

                “You ask that question a lot.”

                “I’m a scientist, Will.  Humor me.” His scoff was good-natured enough. _Says the scientist of the scientist._

                “There’s so much you don’t know.”

                “Then, tell me.”

                A storm of a chuckle and, “Maybe tomorrow.”

Then, there was only a dial tone where there used to be Will and only Magnus where there used to be the both of them.  He didn’t answer the first time she called back, he never answered again at all.


	2. Chapter 2

                Helen realized as soon as she announced Will’s resignation that she was the only one of her old acquaintances to be surprised.  Adam, who had yet to take his leave of their company, had chuckled.  Nikola had snorted in a rather ungentlemanly fashion.  John, for his part, had become immediately impassive. It was the last of these which gave her the most concern.  He was attempting to hide something from her, something he didn’t want her to know.

                _How rarely this works in your favor, John._   It hadn’t in the last one hundred years; she’d become a great deal sharper since the autumn of their romance.

                Kate, Henry, and her manservant all seemed to share in her confusion.  Henry appeared to be the worst off.

                “He just left? Just like that?” He turned to his tablet PC and began tapping away.  “Doc, that’s not like Will.”

                “I’m well aware of that, Henry. I’m announcing this now in the hope that we can get to the bottom of this. Now,” she took her seat, “I’d like it if we could take to a moment to review Will’s recent behavior.  Something tells me that all has not been as it should be.”  She looked to her former fiancé and waited for him to begin.  He demurred, wordlessly encouraging one of the others to precede him.

                “It appears as though the concubine’s secrets have finally gotten the best of him. How unfortunate,” Adam’s alternate quipped, making a play at sadness and failing miserably at the task.

                “What are you talking about?”  She glared at him steadily and he merely smiled.

                “Don’t be a pest,” John warned gravely, lighting his eyes intently on the other man’s face.

                “He can’t help himself,” Nikola sneered, “it’s his default setting.”

                “Now now, boys, let’s not be petty,” Adam’s other half chastised, full of mischief.

                Helen had had enough of this.  “Yes, let’s not. Tell me what you know about the change in my protégé’s behavior before I set John loose to have his fun with you.”  She took no conscious note of the pleased smirk crossing her former fiancé’s lips.

                Adam’s alter ego quirked his brows in a parody of genuine surprise.  “Ooh, a threat. It’s only been two whole hours since the last one. That must be a record.”

                “Adam!” for she couldn’t think of another name to call him, not in this tone.

                “Really, Helen, it’s unbecoming of a lady to show such favoritism.” He reclined, pleased, in his seat and beamed.  “In any case, you should be grateful that young William was kind enough to let you go.”  Glancing slyly at John, he remarked, “Not everyone’s parasite has been so gracious.”  John didn’t deign to add murder to his gaze, it was forbidding enough.

                She was certain she was being intentionally led by the nose now.  “What is this? What are you hiding, Adam, and why are you helping him, John?” He was as much an accomplice by his silence as Adam was by his predictably wearying antics.

John reluctantly turned his attention to her.  She read an apology in his eyes, even amid the old sorrow.  “Your Dr. Zimmerman is not everything he appears to be,” he confessed.

Helen hated the sound of the truth already.  _Perhaps I should have read his letter after all._   “Meaning what, exactly?”

Nikola gave an impatient sigh.  “You must have sensed it by now.  He’s one of us.”

“After a fashion,” John amended.

“After a fashion,” Nikola mimicked acerbically.

Adam tapped his chin thoughtfully, or it appeared thoughtful, though Helen was reluctant to accept any of his acts as less than premeditated.  “It would appear that he’s confounded the great Helen Magnus.  Shouldn’t he receive some kind of prize for that?”

“I hardly think he’d be in a state of mind to enjoy it,” John contributed drolly.  He’d bypassed the tea service entirely to retrieve the brandy.  Normally, Helen wasn’t one to imbibe in mixed company, but today was hardly a normal day.  She took the balloon glass he offered without protestation.

After a quiet few minutes in which everyone had taken a drink, Helen decided she’d exhibited quite enough tolerance.  “I think I’ve endured more than my fair share of theatrics, gentlemen.  Be clear and be concise.  What has become of my second-in-command?”

“‘What’ being the operative word,” Nikola murmured in a passing jibe.

John assented, “Indeed.”  Frowning even more than was his current custom, he began again, “Your man has picked up a…passenger. I daresay it, one you may find intimately familiar.”

Helen took a moment to think through John’s less than candid remark.  No, she didn’t like this in the least.  “By your expression, I take it you aren’t referring to the Makri.”

“Pretty sure that thing’s dead, Doc,” Henry answered after the short eternity of silence from his quarter. His tapping at his work tablet hadn’t ceased for a moment, not for the young master of multitasking.

“I was afraid you’d say that.”  She’d known, but she had hoped that it would be something as, for lack of a better phrase, tolerable as that.  “The electric being, then?  One similar to the one which inhabits you?”

John nodded without a word and replenished his snifter another time.  She couldn’t fault him for his need to drink.  It was an impulse with which she was grappling as they spoke.

“Is that why he’s decided to leave? He’s experiencing impulses similar to yours?”  She didn’t want an answer, in truth. She’d much rather be able to look for her protégé without the added burden of being his presumptive judge and jailer.  This was not the way she wished to let go of another intimate friend.

“Very much like mine, yes.  However, if it is of any consequence to you, he has not taken a life. Not when last we spoke.”  The very definition of cold comfort, but it was _some_ comfort, though how much so she wouldn’t admit.

“He spoke to you about his condition?”  She found that hard, nay impossible, to believe.

John’s smile was an anemic, knowing thing on his lips.  “He did.  He questioned what it meant to reach the point of no return.”  The words left a sour note behind the brandy.  She was indeed quite finished with it after all.

Helen looked back in patent disbelief.  John and Will had never shown any particular affinity for one another.  She had always been sure that her second only tolerated him because she did.  Whatever her personal feelings and his professional fascination, he’d seen no honor in catering to a killer.  Now, she had catered to several.  It was a wonder he hadn’t been lost sooner.

“Why didn’t he come to me, to us?  We would have helped him.”

“You could have done no more for him than you have for me, Helen.  Oh, certainly, you would have tried, and that failure would have brought you nothing but pain.  If he cares for you even fraction of what I believe, then this was the only possible solution.  He left you in order to spare you.”

“Somehow, I think our little tête-à-tête has put paid to his plan’s success.”

Helen could only manage a dry, “Thank you, Nikola,” because he was right.

“Uh, I hate to be Debbie Downer,” Kate interjected, “but if Will’s got Jacky Boy’s little problem, we should probably still try to find him. This isn’t the 1800’s anymore. If whatever that thing is keeps him from being careful, they’re gonna get DNA, fingerprints; the works.  He’ll get caught and we’ll be in for some serious trouble here.”

Choosing to ignore Kate’s less than appropriate reference to John, Helen nodded. “Agreed. We must find a way to track him.”  If only she had any idea where to begin. It was then that John spoke again.

“I believe you’ll have some luck if you check the local watering holes,” he offered with an elegant flick of the wrist.  “If I recall correctly, those are places he likes to frequent.”

“And you know this how?”  It made Helen’s stomach knot uneasily, the thought that Will might have confided more in a man he disdained than the woman he’d died for.

“We madmen are no less inclined to idle chitchat than our more balanced counterparts.”

“And how would she know that?  The Sanctuary Network isn’t exactly brimming with perfect pictures of mental health.”

“Will wonder never cease, the bloodsucker and I are in agreement.”  Adam began sarcastically clapping his hands together.

“Can it, Hyde.”

“That will do, gentlemen,” Helen chastised. “On the matter of apprehending Will, we’ll begin tonight.  John, since you appear to have a better idea of Will’s extracurricular habits than the rest of us, I’d like you to lead the way.  I’d prefer it if we could avoid any collateral damage in our attempt to retrieve my wayward protégé.  So far as we know, no lives have been lost; I’d like to keep it that way.”

“If we must,” Nikola hedged around a sip of her father’s finest wine. When he’d gotten a hold of it was anyone’s guess.

“We _must_ , Nikola. If you find you’ll have difficulty adhering to that order, I suggest you excuse yourself now.”

“And miss all the fun, I think not.”

 _Yes, perish the very thought._   Were it any other time, Helen might have heartily rolled her eyes.

                “Very well.  Kate, Henry, I need a list of all the places Will is likely to visit.  John, I’d like you to give me a better idea what to expect from Will in his current condition.  Nikola, I need you to avoid antagonizing anyone for the foreseeable future.  Adam, I ask the same of you.”

                It took a full minute of watching them expectantly for them each to agree.  She had no doubt it would be under extreme protest.

                She addressed her manservant, “I need you to get in touch with our local informants and find out if there have been any concerning events recently that might be the work of our intrepid friend.  As much as I trust Will’s word, we need to be sure.”  It hurt her to say it, but Will would have understood. He often understood far more than she realized.  And Helen was beginning to realize that she herself understood very little.

                Something was very much amiss in her sanctuary and she intended to see it put to rights. ~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, setting, or quotes recognizable as being from Sanctuary. They are the property of their actors, producers, writers, and studios, not me. No copyright infringement was intended and no money was made in the writing or distribution of this story. It was good, clean fun.
> 
> If you guys wanna talk/flail/flop with me on Tumblr, I'm [sententiousandbellicose](http://sententiousandbellicose.tumblr.com).


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